Seton Magazine Catholic Homeschool Articles, Advice & Resources
A few months ago, in February, we considered the decision of a lower court in California as a crisis. The court decided that home schooling is illegal in California unless the parent has a teaching certificate. Many did not accept their decision as correct, including the governor of California and several members of the California legislature. The decision is under appeal, and we believe that one way or another, the home schooling families of California will not be under any threats from the state.
However, a real crisis has just come out of California. On May 15, the California Supreme Court ruled against the ban on homosexual “marriages.” Four judges ruled that the California Defense of Marriage Act, passed by the voters of California in 2000 is unconstitutional.
Not only is the state forced to recognize same-sex “marriages,” but also the ruling gives the “right” for these “couples” to adopt and raise children.
Chief Justice Ronald George, who wrote the majority decision, said, “our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation.”
This is not something we can ignore. We cannot say to ourselves that this does not affect me and my family. It does affect all of us, and will continue to affect all families, because it redefines the concept of marriage. It will affect families in ways that we can not imagine at this time.
Speaking only one day later, Pope Benedict restated the Catholic Church’s teaching that only marriage between a man and a woman is moral. He said, “The union of love, based on matrimony between a man and a woman, which makes up the family, represents a good for all society that can not be substituted by, confused with, or compared to other types of unions.”
The pope spoke of the inalienable rights of the traditional family, “founded on matrimony between a man and a woman, to be the natural cradle of human life.”
The Church stands firmly against homosexual “marriages” and forbids the adoption of children by these “couples.” In Boston, Archbishop Sean O’Malley closed the Catholic adoption agency when the state of Massachusetts passed a state law requiring that homosexuals must be allowed to adopt children. Other Catholic leaders at that time publicly stated that it is “immoral” to place children in homosexual homes.
Though Catholic Charities had been providing adoptions for more than 100 years, providing adoptions for needy children, it is now closed. It was the largest of all private adoption agencies in the state. It was well-admired especially for placing “special needs” children.
The California Catholic bishops, in response to the last California decision, immediately came out with a statement: “Proposition 22, which states ‘Only marriage between one man and one woman is valid and recognized in the state of California’, passed [several] years ago…That statute reflected the wisdom of the voters of California in retaining the traditional definition of marriage as a biological reality and a societal good. Unfortunately today, the [California Supreme] Court saw fit to disregard the will of the majority of people of California.
“Catholic teaching maintains that marriage is a faithful, exclusive, and lifelong union between one man and one woman joined in an intimate partnership of life and love, a union instituted by God for the mutual fulfillment of the husband and wife as well as for the procreation and education of children.
“Partnerships of committed same-sex individuals are already legal in California…However, those partnerships are not marriage, and can never be marriage, as it has been understood since the founding of the United States. Today’s decision of California’s high court opens the door for policymakers to deconstruct traditional marriage and create another institution under the guise of equal protection.
“Although we strongly disagree with the ruling, we ask our Catholic people, as well as all the people of California, to continue to uphold the dignity of every person, to acknowledge individual rights and responsibilities, and to maintain support for the unique and irreplaceable role of traditional marriage as an institution which is fundamental to society.”
The terrible result of these “marriages” as legally recognized, is that they can now adopt children. These children will grow up in our society, and will affect the children of the families around them. These “couples” and their adopted children will affect our children, our extended family’s children. These children adopted by these “couples” will affect our children as they go to the public park. These will be children who will be working at the stores where our children work, children who will attend the same sports activities, children who will invite neighborhood children to a birthday party, etc. This is not to blame the children, but when they grow up in a setting where moral laws are flouted, they cannot help but pick up bad attitudes and values.
As these children interact, as children and young adults, and later as voting citizens, they will influence and affect our children, our laws, and our society not only to accept their family lifestyle, but to become desensitized to the horrible immorality of homosexuality.
God intended for a married man and woman to remain together for a lifetime of love and work in raising and training children to live according to God’s laws. Homosexual couples change partners frequently, and are certainly not dedicated to raising children. Homosexual couples cannot provide the Christian role model that God wants for children.
The decisions in the states of Massachusetts and in California can and will bring the secular American culture to a new low. Only our home schooling families, keeping children close to home and the Catholic way of life, giving good examples of Christian family life and Christian happiness, can possibly keep the Christian truths and family values alive.
